The invention relates to a measuring body for an implant, comprising a measuring geometry detectable by a scanning camera and a connecting geometry for the implant.
The invention further relates to a method for generating a measured 3D image of a measuring body mounted on an implant, and the implant to be used is selected from a number of various types of implant.
In the case of CAD/CAM assisted provision of jaw implants, a freshly inserted or already healed implant is fitted with a temporary measuring body to indicate the orientation and position of the implant at a level above the region of the jaw or gingiva. This method is also used for implant analogs placed in plaster models. With the aid of a surface scan of the situation it is possible, by means of special algorithms, to recognize the exposed shape of the measuring body automatically and to compute its orientation and position. Since its geometrical shape is precisely known, the orientation of the implant and its position can be computed that are hidden in the jaw, in the gingiva, or in the model and are not directly visible in a surface scan of the situation. It is then possible to design an appropriate dental prosthetic item by means of CAD/CAM.
A large number of greatly varying implant shapes are available on the market, these differing, inter alia, mainly in the diameter and connecting geometry of the mounted dental prosthetic item, for example an abutment.
Hitherto, a completely new, single-piece measuring body has been fabricated for each required implant shape. Some manufacturers use extended screws in the implant for this purpose. Although it has hitherto been possible to keep the upper part of the body in most cases geometrically identical, it has still had to be freshly fabricated together with the fixed bottom part of the measuring body, for example using an injection mold. Each fresh measuring body has required a separate individual fabrication process. In such cases it has been necessary to create individual patterns in elaborate production steps and these have had to be measured for accuracy until the required fit was achieved. There is thus the risk that, even when the top part retains the same geometrical shape, there will nevertheless be slight unintentional dimensional discrepancies depending on the mold used. The production and completion of the whole part are the responsibility of the developer of the CAD/CAM dental software for finding the measuring body in the surface scan and then producing a tooth restoration.